GAIL completes funding for Assam petrochemical plant

New Delhi, Oct 1 (IANS) GAIL India has achieved financial closure for its petrochemical plant in Assam, company chairman B.C. Tripathi said Thursday. “We have achieved financial closure for Brahmaputra Cracker and Polymer,” said Tripathi.

GAIL has 70 percent stake in the plant, with other partners sharing 10 percent each.

He expected the plant to be commissioned by April 2012.

The government has given Rs.2,138 crore as capital subsidy and Rs.909 crore as feedstock subsidy towards the total cost of the project, estimated to be around Rs.5,461 crore.

Tripathi said the debt component of Rs.1,756 crore was finalised Thursday. Earlier in September, the Oil Industry Development Board had tied up a loan of Rs.327 crore and the rest of Rs.1,041 crore was the equity component.

The feedstock for the project will be six million cubic metres a day (MMSCMD) of gas from Oil India and 160,000 tonnes of naptha from Numaligarh refinery.

“The balance feedstock requirement of 1.3 MMSCMD of gas up to 2012 and 1 MMSCMD thereafter is considered from ONGC,” Tripathi said.

Once complete, the petrochemical plant will be able to produce 220,000 tonnes per annum of ethylene, 60,000 tonnes of propylene, 55,000 tonnes of raw pyrolysis gasoline and 12,500 tonnes of fuel oil.